The Left Behind
by David J. Nixon
Summary: The Left Behind" - The story of a young girl caught up in the Earth's final days. With the Provisional World Alliance chasing her under the orders of Brother Angelus Christopher, Lori must take refuge with her friends and seek a place of refuge as the bo


**Written by David J. Nixon **

My short story was originally written as this below but I've added on the extended ending for it, which I wrote a short time after to meet demand from all who had read it and wanted more. Please note that it was only after I wrote this story that I first got my hands on the Left Behind series so there is not any real intended connection between them except that they both deal with the post-Rapture Tribulation period. So I hope you enjoy it!

"**The Left Behind"**

With a strong sense of solitude in her heart, Lori adjusted her posture in the back seat of the car in order to get a view of the countryside zooming past outside. The greenish blur of the passing stationary trees & grass at the side of the road gave her comfort as it reminded her of happier days. Days when they had all been together, when their fellowship, as a family, was at its strongest. Back then she and Andrew were able to affectionately watch Caroline fruitlessly strive to take her first steps into a world that was more dangerous to her than she could yet comprehend. Like in life itself, she would make a few ambles but when confidence in her own abilities kicked in she would find herself back on green terra firma faced with the realisation that the world is more complicated than it seems from a fleeting glance – a grim fact that all children learn early in life. However, those days were gone, irreplaceably torn from her as a wild dog rips a scrap of meat from its broken down prey.

Lori was awoken from her reminisces by the suddenly familiar news bulletin theme tune playing over the car radio. The voice that followed was one that now represented the grim reality of the world after That Day, as it was the latest "casualty" report:

"_Good afternoon and thanks for tuning into Radio UNGENN – the United Nations Global Emergency News Network. The latest tally of victims has reached a new height today of 153 million 783 thousand and 59"._ Lori did not flinch at this announcement for while it was a colossal total she only cared about two out of its vast number. The report continued:

"_It is still not apparent as to what caused this tragic 'disaster', as it has been hailed from some quarters, but what is clear is that no nation in the entire world has been left untouched_". In recent history the most important date had been the 11th of September 2001 but this had been prior to That Day. For on July 4th 2004 the world had been attacked in such a brutal and intimate way that Lori could not see how any terrorist could make any advance upon it.

The day had started out as so many other Sundays had in the past with the sky full of grey and white clouds, which now on reflection may have been hiding something above observing its handiwork. However, the day was different to most that Lori had experienced for the previous 3 years, since she had married Andrew, for she awoke early to find an empty place beside her in the bed. She awoke not through her usual slow realisation of it being morning but by the squealing of sirens resonating through the air outside the house. Only upon a frenzied search of the house to find Andrew to inquire as to what was going on, as Lori assumed that he had been aroused from sleep by the same disturbance, did her anxiety enter a crescendo. Caroline was not in her cot and Andrew was no-where in the house with all his things left undisturbed from the previous evening. The feelings of fear and confusion coursed through her body again as she sat thinking about the events of That Day. Lori's body began to shiver with the severity of the emotions as slowly over the last four months her fear & grief had turned to pure anger. Hatred was now the only thing that she felt towards the unknown Thing that had snatched her family away from her. A tear of angry resolve slid halfway down her cheek before it was brushed dismissively aside as Lori remembered the reality of the whole situation. How could she act so selfishly as if this was an attack deliberately targeted at her? The fact was it was an attack that affected every single person in the world. There was no one left who had not lost a family member, friend or work colleague – at least that was what the radio report went on to say.

On that Sunday morning, millions of people had simply disappeared into thin air. An aircraft pilot of a Boeing 767 flying over New York had been left alone in the cockpit for 10 seconds while his co-pilot got a drink from a flight attendant. Upon the return of the co-pilot, the cockpit was empty and the plane was hurtling into downtown Manhattan. The sirens that had awoken Lori on that fateful morning emanated from the response to hundreds of separate car, plane & train crashes in and around New York. Drivers, pilots, passengers just simply disappeared either leaving the controls unmanned of their respective vehicles or giving such a shock to cause a death toll of 1 million. Similar stories abounded with millions of webpages being created for people to tell their own harrowing stories of "bereavement". However it was not these stories but rather the explanations that followed which made Lori feel angry. She often felt that she had mistakenly wandered into a Star Trek Convention, as the idea that Scotty had simply "beamed everyone up" seemed to be widely accepted in many quarters and she often wondered if maybe it was not just people that disappeared That Day but also common sense.

Now Lori was on the run with David and Ruth, her "extended family" of friends from back in university. Although she did not understand why she was so compelled to run away and why she did not just conform like the majority of the world.

"_We're almost there,"_ came the comforting voice of David from the driver's seat in front of Lori, _"you'll soon be safe"._ David and Ruth had guided her through the turbulence of the last few weeks and the fires in Lori's heart were momentarily extinguished by gratitude towards her two friends, her saviours. Without their help she would no doubt be in prison for her non-conformity as with the storm that washed Andrew and Caroline away came a flood of political reform. The United Nations lived up to its name by declaring itself as the provisional world government and used its power to restore order upon the remaining populous of the world. With fear abounding of another incursion upon the world's remaining population a rising star in the UN, Brother Angelus Christopher, proposed that an experimental identity tag be given to everyone who had been "left behind". It was a magnetic ink mark, similar to the identification on the bottom cheques and it acted like a barcode. It was to be put onto the right hand or forehead of everyone who wanted to remain a citizen of their respective countries. Although it had started out as a purely voluntary scheme, 2 weeks previously the UN made it mandatory to receive the mark or face imprisonment. Lori did not understand her reluctance to receive the mark, as it was not as if it would hurt or be any different to a credit card, for that was effectively what the mark was. However, unlike normal credit cards where you can choose to use it or cash when purchasing you could only buy items if you had the mark and there were rumours that it acted like a tracking device – presumably to warn if more people were taken. You could only receive education, medical treatment, welfare benefits or use any form of public transport if the mark was on your right hand or forehead. This was what brought Lori to the door of her friends David and Ruth.

They shared some of their food with her and had given her a safe place to sleep but things changed when she returned to get a few belongings from her now abandoned house, the previous week. While she had been in the process of packing a large suitcase full of clothing and other items, she heard a sharp knock on the door. Upon surreptitious inspection from her bedroom window, she learned that three armed soldiers were standing at her door with a Humvee drawn up on the pavement. It was only once they had concluded the house was empty and moved on to another house at the other end of the street that Lori dared attempt an escape. Being a law-abiding citizen all her life, Lori did not understand why she suddenly had the military appearing at her door looking for her. However, the news that night at David & Ruth's house revealed all:

"_Brother Christopher mobilised the army today to detain all those who have failed to take the identification mark. In a move widely condemned by civil rights activists, he has issued a warrant for all who refuse to become citizens of the new world. The United Nations, in an attempt to lessen criticism to this move, have made a provision that all detained will be offered the mark for a final time before being taken in for processing."_ Losing her family had been bad enough but now she was being persecuted for her pathetic fear of taking a mark just because of something Andrew had once said. Something she could now only remember vaguely but it was potent enough to have given her the desire to run down to the local church in her dressing gown on that fateful morning. Andrew had been a born-again Christian for many years, stretching back before they had met and Lori had thought that maybe he had gone to the church to pray about the events unfolding around them. Despite knowing in her heart he would not be there in the pews when she burst through the doors her mind still held onto a piece of optimism. That morning had been the first time she had been in a Church since their wedding and before that she had only attended Sunday school as a child because her parents forced her to go. She had not been interested in following his faith but now she regretted this. She would have gladly gone with him on a Sunday to Church just so she could have spent an extra 2 hours with him each week for now she had lost him and she would never get to spend another second with him.

Ruth turned around to look at Lori from her passenger seat in the front of the car and surveyed the broken expression on her face. She had been a great shoulder to cry on, so much so that several of her dresses had become the sodden wall of a waterfall. Like Lori, Ruth had long blonde hair that completely hid her forehead from view and David was the same, except with jet-black hair. She had often called them the modern day "Hippies of New York" because of these retrospective hair styles as the modern day style for men was for their fringes to be spiked up. Despite their questionable hairstyles, Lori loved them all the same. Ruth guessing why she looked so upset tried to console her for the Nth time in the last few weeks.

"_I miss them too_," she said comfortingly to Lori, _"We both do"._ David joined in by adding reassuringly,

"_Yes, just remember we're here to help you get through this. Soon this will all be over and you'll be able to live a normal life again". _Lori's head swelled with the intensifying pain of gratitude towards her friends. They were now putting their own freedom in danger by helping her escape and to Lori's knowledge they had no plan for hiding themselves from the mark..

"_You guys are the best. You've put up with me and even now put yourselves in danger but after you've helped me how are you going to hide from the mark"._

"_We've already got something sorted out but it's best if we don't say anything about it. In case anything goes wrong..."_

"_Which it won't!"_ Ruth added quickly. A feeling of reluctant relief surged through Lori's veins at these words as she knew that she was not safe yet but soon she would be safe and then she could begin to plot revenge. Revenge on a grand scale to avenge herself and her family against the unknown Thing that had changed her life. The last few months had been wasted on self-pity but now she could throw that aside and become strong again. In a few more months events in the world would settle down and the mark would disappear. It was inevitable; at least that was how it seemed in her mind. Then the three of them would be able to come together again and she would be able to thank them in a very real way for contending with her stupidity of not accepting the mark and causing them so much trouble. For it was her fault that David and Ruth had not taken the mark, it was her inexplicable unease that had made them hold back – "_for the sake of solidarity_" as David had put it.

The car slowed down as it entered one of the suburbs outside of the city. They drove past a church building with signs posted outside and a few solitary figures parading around with placards but she could not catch a glimpse of what they read. To Lori these people and their Church had simply set up a stall at the Star Trek Convention next to the Klingons and Borg because of the things they were saying to explain away the disappearance of several hundred million people. These hypocrites claimed that their God had come again or some such rubbish to take away all his children, which begged the question in her mind of why were these supposed Christians still here? Lori had become uninterested in the pathetic postulation which had surged to explain away something that had no logical explanation but she had sympathy for those searching for answers as she knew how devastating losing family members was. She knew that if she did not have David and Ruth she would probably be joining them to seek comforting explanations for their incomprehensible situation.

Lining the road where houses with flagpoles in their gardens with the flag of the United Nations at half-mast. This was a peculiar sight as surely they should have been displaying the Star Spangled Banner. What was more was that it was a strange place to seek refuge from the same organisation that wanted to lock her up as they obviously commanded support from the people here. A feeling of squeamish uneasiness shivered down Lori's spine at the sight of people walking past with a black mark on their foreheads. Why? Again, she did not know and she forced herself to act rationally, as without that she would be no use to anyone – least of all herself. Then the car stopped outside another church. Lori looked out of the window and surveyed its red brick walls and roof silhouetted against the deep red sky. This would normally not have been a surprising sight as it was early November and the sun set earlier at this time of year but it was still only 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Despite the weather behaving abnormally over the last few months since That Day this was a very unusual and unexpected occurrence. As Lori watched as the yellow glow of the sun deepened into a strong shade of crimson and the shadows all around from the trees outside the church lengthened. For some unapparent reason it was getting dark very quickly.

_"We're here."_ Came the response of David as he looked out of the windscreen up at the dying sun that maintained its position in the sky but whose light was fading away. They all disembarked from the car and Lori slowly walked up the path to the Church, flanked on either side by her friends. She could not help but feel so grateful to her saviours who had brought her to the place where she would finally be safe from the UN, army and the mark. As they arrived at the outer door, she jumped up hugging David before turning around and doing the same for Ruth.

"_I can't express how grateful I am to you both for bringing me here. It's funny how the Christians in this building say their Messiah came again and took them away when in fact my Messiah's are here with me!" _A smile, the one first in weeks, spread across her face untightening the facial muscles that she feared had turned to stone.

"_They'll be waiting for you inside."_ Prompted Ruth

"_We'll come in with you."_ Taking the hint Lori opened the glass-fronted door into the reception and proceeded through a large wooden door into the main chamber of the church. What she found inside was shocking.

It looked like a church did normally with pews lining both sides of the chamber going forward to a pulpit raised up in the centre. The Communion Table was in front of this but unusually there was someone sitting behind it in a central position. Behind this figure was a banner hanging over from the pulpit above. Her eyes were drawn away from the banner before she could inspect it further by a loud intake of breath from her left in one of the pews. As she looked around she saw around a dozen people sitting in a solemn posture with some silently sobbing into handkerchiefs. Not understanding what was going on she returned her eyes to the banner hanging behind the Communion table. It was a yellow canvass with a dark blue/greenish insignia on it. At the top was a row of three circles, then below this a double row of three dashes and then below that a final line of three circles. Lori recognised this immediately. Her eyes jumped to the face of the man sitting at the table who was now looking up straight at her. Her eyes became transfixed upon the centre of his forehead. Adorning both of these things was the insignia of the mark

Lori's reaction was immediate, she turned and tried to run but she rebounded backwards after smashing into a solid barrier, it was David's chest.

"_Hold on where do you think you're going?"_ was his coughed response to this violent collision. Lori screamed out,

"_What do you mean? We have to get out of here! It's them! – can't you see?"_ as she tried to push past him before he stopped all her movement by strongly gripping her flailing arms. Ruth intervened to restore order,

"_Let me explain."_ Lori threw her head over to look at her as Ruth lifted her hand and parted her long fringed hair revealing something completely unexpected. Lori stared with a horrified expression on her face at the black insignia of the mark on her friend's temple. She then turned her attention back to David as he let go of her and lifted back his hair revealing the same black mark that was shown on the banner behind her. Lori violently collapsed in tears. Her friends had betrayed her to the UN and the mark; the same people who she believed were protecting her from these very things. Recently suppressed anger built up again and the need to strike out at them spread before the sudden fear of her new situation kicked in. What was going to happen now?

The answer came with her name being suddenly called out from the table behind her. David pulled her up to her feet and forced her to follow him along the aisle to stand before the Communion table. As she stood before that table she knew what was coming next: the provision she had heard about on the radio, that before she was detained she would be offered the mark. In her mind it became all so simple all she had to do was say the word "yes" and everything would return to normal. She would become a citizen again; she could buy food; receive medical treatment and return to work. An overwhelming desire to say "yes" overpowered her body and she stood ready to abandon her previous childish stubbornness that had got her into this situation. The man at the table read her name of the clipboard in front of him and said,

"_Lori Sneddon, do you wish to accept the identification mark on either your right hand or forehead according to United Nations law?"_ This was her opportunity to end the tribulation that she had been suffering from for weeks. Everything could return to some form of normality and she build a new life for herself... but then a rationalising voice in her head entered into the argument and simply said "no". Where it came from she did not know but it brought but the vague memory of something David had said years ago after they married. Her mind was transformed into a battlefield between the two possible conflicting answers to this simple question. It was such a simply thing the voice said but it made a colossal impact in the conflict. Then out of the battlefield, which was her head, the answer came.

"_NO!"_ Her shout made the whole hall fall silent. The man sitting at the table calmly put a cross next to something he had just written on the clipboard and dismissively said,

"_So be it"._ Suddenly a door in the wall behind the pulpit opened and from the dark room within two soldiers entered who walked up to Lori, took her by the arms and dragged her out through the door. As she was pulled from the grasp of her "friends" they shouted to her,

"_Don't throw everything away Lori, come to your senses for goodness sake!" _As the door slammed shut all sound from beyond it was cut, which meant that she was separated from her betrayers. This was probably a good thing, as Lori wanted to kill them now for daring to lie to her and set her up. However, at least if she was out there then she would know where she stood with them, in here all was uncertain.

A short time later Lori was undressed and put into a sort of sackcloth garment that hung off her from her shoulders and resembled the shawl a patient at a hospital wears before an operation. She was then blindfolded and blindly led through a long corridor by the point of a gun being pushed into the small of her back. Eventually she was taken somewhere else and at first she did not know where she was but soon a cool breeze and sharp gravelled floor told her that she must be outside. There was a quiet sobbing somewhere in front of her but from what or whom it came she did not know. She was led on down a set of steps and then across some grass that tickled her feet before being halted on what felt like concrete. A clap of thunder resounded in the far distance and caused her to jump as a hand reached around the front of her head to remove the blindfold from her eyes.

She slowly opened her eyes expecting to be dazzled as her eyes readjusted to light again but it was not the light that dazzled her but rather the lack thereof as she found that it was almost completely dark. She looked up at the coal black sky and saw a crimson orb that had to be the sun sitting stationary in it. The light coming from it did not seem to illuminate the Earth or provide it with warmth, as the air was freezing cold, although her state of dress did not help matters. The soldier in front of her moved out of the way and before her she could make out David who was cradling Ruth's head up against his soldier. She was the source of the sobbing and Lori even noticed the glistening of a tear around David's eyes. They were not facing her straight on but were at an angle pointing towards something off to Lori's right. Not understanding what was going on she turned slowly to be facing in the same direction but with some unjustified fear in her heart she kept her eyes pointed close to what she believed to be the ground, for everything just appeared to be an abyss of blackness with the absence of light from the sun. Her eyes halted when they came across a metallic silver bucket, which seemed to have something in it that she could not make out. All she could see of its contents was a mop of yellowish string, strangely like long hair, with some of it hanging out from the top like a stream that fell down the side of the container. The bucket seemed to be in front of a small metal box or stage and as she slowly raised her eyes she saw the bottom half of a circle cut into a wider block of metal, which at either end had long pieces of metal stretching upwards supporting something yet unseen above. Around the curved semicircle there appeared to be a stain of red that she could not associate with anything she had yet seen. Then she allowed her eyes to follow the ascent of the metal bars either side of this receptacle below, noticing that there appeared to be a white cord along the right hand side hanging down from the above. Her eyes continued to rise until they reached the apex of this peculiar metal structure. When Lori's eyes hit upon it she let out an ear splitting and blood-curdling scream that echoed throughout the courtyard behind the church as the realisation of what she was looking at hit her. It was a flat piece of metal with a sharpened diagonal edge hung suspended in mid air between the two metal bars at either side and on it was same stain of red that she had noticed below around the semi-circular opening. But this time she knew what it was and she now also knew what was in the bucket on the ground below.

Finally, Lori remembered in its entirety the story that Andrew had told her three years ago on their honeymoon and that had given her the conviction to reject the mark. However, by now it was too late and only one part of what he said still mattered. At the time, it had seemed to be the most very disturbing and frightening part of what he had said but now it filled her with a sense of relief. Poignantly the part that mattered now, in more ways than one, to Lori was the ending:

"_This will only be the beginning..."_

"**_The Left Behind_**" – Dedicated to the _real_ Lori, may you never have to go through these days but be raptured into glory at their outset!

**Extended Ending:**

As this thought flickered through her mind the ground on which she stood trembled just as several bolts of lightning forked across the black abyss rising above her. Raising her head above the blade of the guillotine, she again caught sight of the large spectre of the moon that was now deep crimson in colour. It looked menacing to say the least and behind it there were only a handful of stars shining, almost as if a vast multitude of them had been snatched away like David and Caroline.

The remnant echo of her scream faded out of earshot as the crack of thunder followed. Since childhood, Lori had been afraid of the thunder because it always sounded like a monster was roaring as it tried to find where she was hiding. However, now Lori wasn't afraid because there was no place left to hide and the monster wasn't just an unseen sound but actually stood before her, incarnate in metal. The sight of her executioner, that slanted silver blade, didn't drive the same fear into her heart as it had before but rather had acted as a catalyst to remind her of the correctness of her actions up until now. Her rejection of the Mark was now going to result in the end of her life but at least what David had alluded to in the following days would not befall her.

Again her ears were filled with the seemingly distance sobs of Ruth who by now had collapsed to her knees in grief. Even through the hardness in Lori's heart towards her friend turned traitor there was a feeling of undeniable pity for Ruth. No doubt she would be torn up over her decision with Ethan to hand Lori into the hands of the people who would separate her head from her neck through the clash of metal against mere flesh and bone. These thoughts were stopped mid-development by a strong hand forcing itself into her back to push her forward several steps closer to her ultimate fate. As she re-established her footing on the ground Lori surveyed what she could see of the platform the guillotine was raised upon. It wasn't a box as she had first thought but a miniature stage wide enough to allow the guillotine to stand near the edge and accommodate two persons on it at one time. Leading up to it were a set of four steps and it was up these that Lori was now being ushered. The metal was freezing cold to the touch of her feet and as she climbed Lori again took a few moments to observe the sky that was behaving so uncharacteristically. As she looked upwards, the black canvass erupted into a bright watercolour of dazzling lights.

It was almost like watching the Aurora Borealis on the television but unlike that the sky was fully ablaze in this manner and unlike the graceful shifting patterns of the Aurora this sight was menacing. It was as if the sky was under attack from some cosmic force that had blotted out the sun and forced the moon to literally go to red alert. The colours of this display started to glint off the metallic guillotine structure and the ground all around was illuminated for the first extended length of time that Lori had been outside in this courtyard. For the first time Lori noticed that she was ascending to meet another soldier who had been hidden by the now removed veil of darkness. He seemed very troubled by the events overhead so much so that he started to quickly issue orders before she had even come off the steps.

"_You two back there, be quiet while we administer the final procedure_."

She took this to have been addressed to Ruth who was making slightly more noise, being terrified at the sky's eruption into a fireworks display. Again she felt the strong hand of the soldier behind her force itself into her back to move her body so that it was facing this second officer straight on, with the guillotine behind her. He visibly tried to blot out everything happening around him as he spoke to Lori in a stern and uncompromising tone of voice.

"_Lori McCreedy, you are charged with treason against Brother Christopher, himself, and the Provisional World Alliance. You have already been found guilty through your refusal to accept the Mark on your right hand or forehead but you are being granted this final opportunity to have penance for your revolt by saying the words: 'I do'. You will then be marched back into the Church, where you will be administered with your identification and duly returned to society. Failure to do this will result in your immediate execution_."

This again didn't frighten Lori as she felt that she was in the company of someone or something that was giving her the strength to pursue her chosen course of action even to the fate that it meant would befall her. She hadn't been given much of a choice and Lori decided to make a stand here, although her words would never reach an audience greater than the four spectators gathered here.

"_Try me as a traitor to your leader but execute me as a patriot to all those who disappeared on That Day. Your inadequacy has already been demonstrated through your resort to execution in order to silence opposition but I tell you that it is mere folly. I know now that all you're doing is adding to the ranks of the army that will one day return on the final day of the Earth to destroy you and your..._" Lori didn't get to finish her speech but rather felt her body collapse beneath her as her legs gave in. The level of force used by the soldier to knock her off her feet was such that her leg now resonated with stabbing pains from the bone that had obviously broken to pierce into the surrounding muscle tissue.

With little regard for her leg she was roughly grabbed at the shoulders and leg and raised into the air for several moments until a cold wetness touched her neck. Looking up through her pain she saw she was lying with her neck in the receptacle for the guillotine with the blade suspended directly above. Beyond it in the foreground of her vision the sky was erupting even more vigorously into vibrant waves of orange and crimson. The silver metal no longer appeared as the shiny surface that first had caught her eye some minutes before when the blindfold had been removed but now reflected the orange light so that it became a shining beacon through the darkness. Bathed in this light Lori could only imagine what was about to happen because she knew she wasn't going to be around much longer to witness the miraculous culmination to this startling display.

One simple word through the orange light that now illuminated everything around Lori and the tug of a string initiated the end of everything. The last thing that Lori's earthly ears heard were the screams of Ruth and anguished sobs of Ethan, who now seemed so distant, as if a ravine had opened up to separate them eternally. The blade fell with such ease that Lori was taken by the orange light in the blink of her eyes so that she didn't even see it finish its approach.

When her eyes reopened from the infinitesimally brief blink, she found that her journey was now over and that the fellowship she thought was lost had now been re-established. Waiting for her just inside the Eastern Gate were David and Caroline along with the one whom she had pledged her loyalty to.

This really was just the beginning


End file.
